Breaking news

Formula 1 Hungarian GP

Albon "made to look like an idiot" in Hungary, says Russell

Williams’ George Russell says that Alex Albon is “being made to look like an idiot” after the Red Bull driver struggled to 13th in Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying.

Jake Boxall-Legge

Jake Boxall-Legge

Edited: Jul 18, 2020, 7:26 PM

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Alex Albon, Red Bull Racing RB16

Albon has endured difficulties with a skittish RB16 at the Hungaroring, complaining of understeer during practice and eventually dropping out in the second part of qualifying. 

His teammate Max Verstappen got into the third part of qualifying, but only managed seventh, having been 1.4s off Sunday’s polesitter Lewis Hamilton. 

After a tricky pair of races in Austria with mixed fortunes, Albon has come under pressure to perform, which Russell feels is unjustified – having raced against each other in various junior categories. 

Russell and Albon fought for the Formula 2 title in 2018, with Russell winning out, while Albon also battled with Charles Leclerc for dominance in the GP3 Series back in 2016. 

“I mean, I've known Alex for the last, you know, 15 years, been in the same paddock as him,” Russell told Sky Sports F1. 

"He's one of the best drivers we all race you know, Max, Charles, all of us will say it he's always always been at the front and everything he's done. 

“And I don't know what the hell is going on. 

“I feel really, really bad for him because he's being made to look like an idiot and he's absolutely not.  
“He's won in everything he’s done. So I don't know what's going on but they need to sort out for him. 

Read Also:

Russell himself enjoyed a strong charge to 12th on Sunday’s grid, beating Albon by just a fraction of a second as teammate Nicholas Latifi grabbed the 15th-best time to ensure both Williams cars made it into Q2 for the first time since the 2018 Italian Grand Prix. 

In that event, Sergey Sirotkin qualified in 12th place as Lance Stroll made it into Q3, qualifying 10th as both cars made it into the points. 

"Our aim was Q2 the Alfas and the Haas,” Russell explained.  

“And the car just came alive at the start of Q1 and got in a good groove, and gave it everything I had. 

“It's actually annoying, two weeks in a row to miss Q3 by a such a small margin!  

“I'd prefer to be a bit further away because it feels a bit frustrating as such - but yeah, I’m really pleased.” 

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Read also :

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Facebook

Share on Twitter

Share on WhatsApp

Share on Linkedin

Share on Pinterest

Share on Viber

Previous article Hungarian GP: Hamilton on pole as Mercedes crushes rivals

Next article Perez felt "dizzy" during Hungarian GP qualifying

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

More from

Jake Boxall-Legge



Lights, Camara, action: How Haas picked F1's latest rookie for 2027

Formula 1

Singapore GP

Lights, Camara, action: How Haas picked F1's latest rookie for 2027



Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links

Formula 1

Formula 1

Singapore GP

Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links



Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine

Formula 1

Christian Horner's inside story of how Red Bull built its own F1 engine

More from

Alex Albon



Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz reveal F1 boys' trip plans

Formula 1

Formula 1

Azerbaijan GP

Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz reveal F1 boys' trip plans



Williams’ long-awaited F1 upgrade is delivering in Baku – but was Q3 an “overachievement”?

Formula 1

Formula 1

Azerbaijan GP

Williams’ long-awaited F1 upgrade is delivering in Baku – but was Q3 an “overachievement”?



How Fernando Alonso scored ninth at Zandvoort - and how Alex Albon lost a similar payday

Formula 1

Dutch GP

How Fernando Alonso scored ninth at Zandvoort - and how Alex Albon lost a similar payday

More from

Red Bull Racing



How Geri Halliwell helped Christian Horner deal with fan hate

Formula 1

Formula 1 23 h

How Geri Halliwell helped Christian Horner deal with fan hate



Did Max Verstappen already know the impact of Red Bull’s big upgrade when he signed his new deal?

Formula 1

Formula 1

Singapore GP

Did Max Verstappen already know the impact of Red Bull’s big upgrade when he signed his new deal?



Employing team orders can simply be a matter of common sense

Formula 1

Employing team orders can simply be a matter of common sense

Latest news



GT2 European: Maserati ends on a high note at Portimao, with titles for Hartling/Thilenius and Gialdini/Njor

Sponsored

Sponsored

Portimão

1 h

GT2 European: Maserati ends on a high note at Portimao, with titles for Hartling/Thilenius and Gialdini/Njor



Inside the competition building F1’s future engineering talent

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

United States GP

2 h

Inside the competition building F1’s future engineering talent



Toyota clinches 2026 NASCAR Cup manufacturer championship early after dominant season

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

9 h

Toyota clinches 2026 NASCAR Cup manufacturer championship early after dominant season



Tyler Reddick really needed NASCAR Phoenix win for several reasons

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

9 h

Tyler Reddick really needed NASCAR Phoenix win for several reasons

Feature

Discover prime content



How levelling the playing field isn’t antithetical to the principles of F1

Formula 1

By Pat Symonds

How levelling the playing field isn’t antithetical to the principles of F1



Lights, Camara, action: How Haas picked F1's latest rookie for 2027

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Jake Boxall-Legge

Lights, Camara, action: How Haas picked F1's latest rookie for 2027



Employing team orders can simply be a matter of common sense

Formula 1

By Kevin Turner

Employing team orders can simply be a matter of common sense



Why Christian Horner sees history repeating itself for Adrian Newey at Aston Martin

Formula 1

Singapore GP

By Ronald Vording

Why Christian Horner sees history repeating itself for Adrian Newey at Aston Martin

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts

Subscribe